A Sea of Options

Bathrooms Through The Ages

Bathrooms are always with us, changing with the times and with our customs, fashions, and attitudes.
History records that bathing was a religious ritual-a ceremonial purification-in ancient Egypt. Elaborate
plumbing systems date from over 5,000 years ago in Crete. Homer’s heroes are depicted as having bathed in tubs made from stone, marble, and wood.
Bathing as a matter of personal hygiene has had a checkered history-from the conviviality of public
Roman baths, where more than a thousand citizens might bathe together, to the Widespread abstinence from bathing in the Middle Ages. Even during the reign of Elizabeth I, few baths were found in houses, and the queen was reported to bathe only once a month. In fact, it wasn’t until the Victorian era that bathrooms came to be separate rooms in the house. Even the White House didn’t have a bathtub until after 1850.
Today, most of us feel that bathing and bathrooms are necessary and even enjoyable. But the particular type of bathroom that’s right for you may be quite different from your neighbor’s. Bath boutique shops and large sections of department stores devoted to bath accessories testify to the increased interest in improving and personalizing bathrooms. In many homes the master bath and master bedroom are integrated so that the bedroom, dressing room, and bath are combined to make a luxurious retreat. Gardening in the bathroom, and bathrooms with a view of a garden, are becoming more and more
popular. Some bathrooms include a Finnish sauna or Japanese-style soaking tub.
Don’t limit your thinking . Whether you are remodeling, redecorating , building, or buying, keep your mind open to new ideas-they may not be as expensive to actualize as you think, and the benefits may be great. In this blog we present many different styles and types of bathrooms. First, consider the ones that appeal to you most: what is it about them that you’re responding to? Then pick out the aspects of these bathrooms that would be most useful and practical for you.
Ask yourself some general questions about the type of bathroom you would most enjoy. Do you visualize your bathroom as small and enclosed or as a large, open space? Will it be shared or private? Compartmentalized or a single room? Do you want to feel that you ‘re indoors or out? Would you prefer a bright, sunny place or a cozy, dimly lighted place? Do you want a view or plain, close-up walls? Would you like lots of things to see and touch around you or a tidy, ascetic bathroom?
Other, more utilitarian needs should be met, too. The bathroom you’re planning might be the only one in a house inhabited by several people. Or it might be one of several bathing and washing areas in a more lavish dwelling. The number of people who will be using a bathroom- their ages, individual habits, and needs-is information that’s vita l to your planning .
In your present bathroom, what are the features you don’t like that should be changed? What do you plan to accomplish by redecorating, remodeling , or adding a new bathroom? If you’re planning an entire new house, how will the bathroom relate to the rest of the house?
What are your future needs? After asking yourself these questions and as many similar ones as you can think of, you’ll be ready to begin planning the bathroom that’s right for you .